Introduction
Creative production now sits at the center of how brands scale, compete, and grow. With demand for high-quality, multi-channel content growing relentlessly, marketing leaders face a critical question: should production remain in-house, move offshore, or follow a hybrid model that blends the two?
The decision directly impacts cost, speed, consistency, and creative quality. This guide explores the strengths and limitations of each approach, addresses the key questions surrounding these models in 2025, and outlines how to find the right balance for guaranteed delivery and growth.
What Is In-House Creative Production?
In-house creative production is the process of managing all creative work internally, with a dedicated team that sits within the organization.
In-house creative production sits within an internal agency structure that typically operates across three tiers: Strategic, Adaptive Design, and Production. Each tier plays a distinct role in how ideas are created, adapted, and scaled. If you want to explore these tiers in more detail, you can read our full breakdown here.
Key advantages include:
- Direct alignment with brand strategy and voice
- Faster feedback loops and campaign iterations
- Retention of institutional knowledge and expertise
- Easier governance over confidentiality and compliance
Yet, the model carries limitations. In-house teams face skill gaps, capacity challenges during peak seasons, and higher fixed costs for salaries, infrastructure, and technology.
What Is Offshore Creative Production?
Offshore creative production is the delegation of design, adaptation, and content execution tasks to specialized teams located in lower-cost markets. Unlike traditional outsourcing, offshore partners integrate deeply with brand and agency workflows, operating as extensions of internal teams
The benefits are significant:
- Cost savings of 40–70% compared to in-house operations
- Access to scalable global talent pools
- “Follow-the-sun” models that deliver overnight turnaround
- Flexible resourcing for campaigns, surges, and one-off projects
However, brands often raise concerns about communication gaps, cultural alignment, and quality consistency when offshoring is poorly structured or managed.
Why Brands Are Exploring Hybrid Models
The reality for most organizations lies between the two extremes. Hybrid models combine the strategic control of in-house teams with the scalability of offshore partners.
Common triggers for hybrid approaches include:
- Seasonal peaks where in-house teams risk burnout
- The need for specialized skills not available internally
- Global campaign rollouts requiring local market adaptation
- Strategic hedging – ensuring continuity when workloads shift unexpectedly
In fact, the 2024 Global Benchmark Report on Offshore Creative Production, published by TKM Consultants and sponsored by We Are Amnet, found that 90% of companies offshore some creative production today. The report also highlights a clear shift in how in-house agencies operate. They are transitioning to become strategic , taking on Tier 1 responsibilities such as campaign strategy and creative direction, while outsourcing high-volume Tier 3 production work to offshore partners. This hybrid approach ensures brands maintain creative control while achieving scale, speed, and cost efficiency in execution
Key Industry Questions in 2025
Here are a few of the most important questions currently being asked across the creative production industry:
- If my in-house team is strong, why should I offshore at all?
- What percentage of creative production is safe to offshore without losing control?
- How do I protect brand voice and consistency across global teams?
- What hidden costs of offshore partnerships should I anticipate — rework, management overhead, or delays?
- Is nearshoring or hybrid a better long-term play than pure offshore models?
These are not hypothetical. They reflect the daily decision-making of CMOs and Heads of Marketing navigating tighter budgets, shorter timelines, and rising content expectations.
Decision Framework: Choosing Your Balance
When weighing in-house versus offshore, leaders should evaluate their setup through five lenses:
Strategic Value of Work
- Keep core brand-building tasks such as concept creation, campaign design, and brand guardianship in-house.
- Offshore high-volume, repeatable tasks like resizing, localization, and retouching.
Cost and Efficiency
- In-house teams carry higher fixed costs (salaries, training, infrastructure).
- Offshore models provide variable cost structures where you pay for the work you need, scaling up or down flexibly.
Quality and Control
- For highly regulated industries, offshore production offers strong governance and audit-ready workflows that often exceed the controls found in decentralized in-house teams.
- Offshore works best with strong SLAs, detailed style guides, and clear review gates to ensure first-time-right output.
Speed and Agility
- In-house excels at fast-turn revisions and immediate collaboration.
- Offshore provides overnight delivery through “follow-the-sun” models, ideal for global rollouts or urgent adaptation needs.
Risk and Governance
- Assess requirements for data security, IP protection, and regulatory compliance.
- Partner with offshore teams that can demonstrate certifications, encrypted workflows, and robust governance.
How to Build a Hybrid Model That Works
A hybrid model is a structure that blends the best of both worlds. Here’s how to build one effectively:
1. Audit Your Current Workload
- Map every production task, from ideation to execution.
- Identify what drives brand value versus what consumes resources without adding differentiation.
2. Segregate “Core vs. Commodity” Tasks
- Keep high-value creative and brand guardianship in-house.
- Offshore repetitive production tasks where cost, scalability, and turnaround matter most.
3. Select the Right Offshore Partner
- Look beyond pricing. Evaluate cultural alignment, communication practices, technology integration, and proven track records in creative production. For a deeper dive, read our blog on what to look for in a creative production offshore partner
4. Pilot and Benchmark
- Start small with one workstream (e.g., packaging adaptations or social media ad resizing). Measure KPIs such as error rates, turnaround speed, and cost savings before expanding scope. For more detail on setting the right performance metrics, see our blog on A Comprehensive Guide to KPIs for In-House Creative Agencies
5. Integrate Technology for Workflow Alignment
- Use shared platforms for asset management and approvals.
- Ensure teams collaborate seamlessly through tools like Joule, Teams, or Slack.
6. Establish Governance and Reporting Cadences
- Define SLAs, quality standards, and escalation paths.
- Run monthly reporting reviews and quarterly strategy sessions to keep alignment strong.
7. Scale Gradually and Flexibly
- Expand offshore scope as trust grows.
- Reassess the ratio of in-house to offshore regularly, adjusting to campaign peaks, budget shifts, or market expansion.
Pro tip: Weekly check-ins between in-house leads and offshore managers keep hybrid models proactive, not reactive.
Smartshoring®: The Progressive Alternative
At We Are Amnet, we advocate for Smartshoring® a progressive model that combines regional client service teams with offshore production hubs. This ensures:
- Cultural alignment and communication certainty through local account managers
- Access to global expertise with scalable offshore execution
- Visibility and control via MarTech platforms such as Joule and monthly Certainty Index™ reporting
This approach addresses the pitfalls of traditional offshore models and delivers production certainty at scale.
The debate between in-house and offshore creative production is no longer about choosing one over the other. The future belongs to hybrid models that combine control, cost efficiency, and global scalability.
By evaluating your workstreams, defining what truly belongs in-house, and building governance for offshore partners, you will achieve a balance that delivers speed, quality, and growth.
Now is the time to review your current production setup and ask: Which tasks are draining resources in-house, and which could be scaled more efficiently offshore? If you want certainty in that decision, explore how Smartshoring® provides the framework to get there. Get in touch with our team if you need help assessing the right balance for your organization.
